tchi412

I thank all of your comments.
I agree to most of it and hence made some changes to my itinerary.

The reason why flying in/out from Zurich is because I got discounted flight ticket, so at the time I thought it is worthwhile to get, and I was planning on going to Zurich anyway.
Planning with Zurich in mind definitely makes this trip more complicated.

The major changes are, staying in cities for longer periods, make day trips to surrounding towns.
Here are my questions:
1. The train from munichen to Zurich, can I use germany rail pass?(10 days in a month cost $252 Euro).
2. I am not driving so transportation needs to be planned out. Should i spend more money to reserve my seat on the train?
3. Will it be worthwhile to get the BahnKarte (one day cost around 25 Euro) in Bayern and Hessen?
4. Recommendation of commendation (hostel or couch surfing)
Here is the new one:
day, agenda, accommodation
Day 1 fly to zurich n/a
Day 2 Zurich to Hamburg Hamburg
Day 3 Hamburg Hamburg
Day 4 Hamburg to Berlin Berlin
Day 5 Berlin Berlin
Day 6 Berlin Berlin
Day 7 Berlin to Frankfurt Frankfurt
Day 8 Frankfurt to Koln and Koblenz Frankfurt
Day 9 Frankfurt to Wurzburg Frankfurt
Day 10 Frankfurt to Heidelberg Frankfurt
Day 11 Frankfurt to Munich Munich
Day 12 Munich Munich
Day 13 Munich concetration camp Munich
Day 14 Munich to Fussen Fussen (Schwangau)
Day 15 Fussen to Neuschwanstein to GP GP
Day 16 GP to Zugspitze GP
Day 17 GP to Berchtesgaden to salt mine Berchtesgaden
Day 18 Berchtesgaden (Koenig see, obesee) Berchtesgaden
Day 19 Berchtesgaden (eagles net) Berchtesgaden
Day 20 Berchtesgaden (extra day in case it rains) Berchtesgaden
Day 21 Berchtesgaden to Munich, Munich to Zurich Zurich
Day 22 Zurich Zurich
Day 23 Zurich early morning flight


Many thanks.

mokka4

The Frankfurt days still seem a little overscheduled, but overall, MUCH better!

J62

Still looks like a fun trip.

I'd fly Zurich to Hamburg on my day of arrival, without necessarily even leaving the airport. Air Berlin flies non-stop. It'll be faster, cheaper, and more convenient than taking a long, all day train with 1 or more changes. There is a risk if your incoming flight is delayed and you miss your AB flight, but you always have train as a backup option.

Since you'll be back in Zurich at the end of the trip you don't need to tour there upon arrival.

To play it safer you could book a 4-5 hr layover to account for an incoming delay. That would give you enough time to hop on a local train into Zurich for 1/2 day.

Many people recommend Mainz as a base rather than Frankfurt. Check train schedules at www.bahn.de, and if they are convenient for your day trips then I'd do that.

Frankfurt is a large modern industrial & commerce city without much charm, except for the small inner historical part where they have the Christmas market in December.

If you find you like the GP area a lot then you can always adjust more days there/fewer in BG on the fly.

I can't offer any advice on hostels or couch surfing. In some of the smaller towns you can also find simple, single rooms for rent at many guest houses or private homes for a reasonable price. More expensive than a hostel but worth considering.

The local tourism / info office usually has a listing of all of these.

tchi412

Thanks for your comments. I bought the ticket from Zurich to Hamburger and the price as less than 100USD. Good deal.
Also, my other question is about germany rail Pass. is there a good site to get any discounts? Currently the price is 447USD for 10 days within a month.
I am going to check Mainz, cause I have heard that Frankfurt is not worthwhile.

Thanks a lot.

hsv

I don't agree with Frankfurt not being worthwhile. Frankfurt was extremely relevant for German history as it hosted Germany's first parliament in St. Paul's church. That alone puts it on the map - in addition there are good museums, it's fun to spend a night out in Sachsenhausen's Apple Cidre pubs etc.

In fact, I'd be tempted to cut out either Heidelberg (Americans seem to love it, I think it's o.k., but am not sure why it attracts that many tourists) or Cologne as day trips from Frankfurt in favour of either Frankfurt alone or a combination of Frankfurt and Mainz (both options more convenient). But that's probably a matter of taste.

Should you go to Cologne: not sure a stop in Koblenz will add that much value.

Apart from that: I like that itinerary.